Breaking News Blog

By BREAKING NEWS BLOG

A Wasco man with numerous warrants, including two shooting incidents, was apprehended Friday night in Wasco, according to the Kern County Sheriff's department.

Adrian Martinez, 24, had one warrant for recklessly discharging a firearm, being a felon in possession of a firearm, being a felon in possession of ammunition, receiving stolen property and resisting arrest. A second warrant was for failing to appear on a felony charge. The third warrant was for a felony probation violation.

Share

In addition to the warrants, Martinez was wanted for two counts of assault with a firearm on a person, being a felon in possession of a firearm, being a felon in possession of ammunition, gang participation, and witness intimidation, stemming from an incident on August 7th, 2013 in the 1000 block of 16th Street in Wasco.

Martinez was also wanted for a separate shooting incident at the intersection of 7TH Street and Beckes Street in Wasco, on June 2nd, 2013. He was wanted on charges of assault with a deadly weapon and shooting at an inhabited vehicle on that incident.

Deputies from the Wasco, Delano and Buttonwillow substations began checking the Wasco area and located Martinez in a vehicle on "D" Street near 5th Street at about 8:25 pm. The vehicle was being driven by Ricardo Villegas, a 20 year old resident of Bakersfield. Deputies immediately initiated a traffic stop on the vehicle, but Villegas did not stop. Villegas eventually pulled into a store parking lot on 7th Street in Wasco and stopped.

Martinez got out of the car and ran and was seen reaching into his pants. After a short foot pursuit, Martinez was forced to the ground and arrested after a short struggle. During the arrest, Martinez discarded a small bag of methamphetamine. Deputies also searched and found a loaded revolver in Martinez' pants pocket.

While Martinez was running away, Villegas abandoned the car and went inside the store. Villegas was detained inside the store. He was arrested and booked into the Kern County Jail for driving under the influence of alcohol, DUI with a blood alcohol content over .08 percent and evading arrest.

Martinez was booked into jail for the aforementioned warrants and the following charges:

Shooting at an inhabited vehicle, Assault with a firearm (3 counts), being a felon in possession of a firearm (2 counts), being a felon in possession of live ammunition (2 counts), gang participation, witness intimidation, being a felon carrying a concealed firearm on his person, being an active gang member carrying a concealed firearm on his person, carrying a concealed and loaded firearm when he wasn't the registered owner of the firearm, being a felon carrying a loaded firearm, carrying a loaded firearm while not being the registered owner of the firearm, being an active gang member carrying a loaded firearm, carrying a loaded firearm with a prior narcotics conviction, and carrying a loaded firearm while in possession of narcotics.

Martinez' bail has been set at $73,000.00; however he cannot bail out on his probation violation warrant.

The body of a large paddle-tailed rodent was found early Tuesday in the traffic lanes of southbound Mohawk Street north of Truxtun Avenue, suggesting Bakersfield's fabled bike path beaver -- scourge of local saplings -- may have died.

The lush grasses and sweeps of wildflowers cloak much of the damage to the small canyon in a blanket of ephemeral green. But Ellen Cypher and Erin Tennant can see it as they walk along a sandy route that has been churned into the bottom of the wash by motorcyclists and quad riders.

Even Kern County Supervisor Leticia Perez's self-serving, disingenuous and downright contemptuous ranting against a proposed ban of Piccolo Pete and ground flower-type fireworks wasn't nearly as stunning to me as Supervisor David Couch's silence and eventual vote against the ban.